Supporting means for hay-slings



G. S. SOWERS.

SUPPORTINGMEANS FOR HAY SLINGS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 28, 1919.

WITNESS" INVENTOR.

. 7 Geovpe 5: -3 4W W ATTORNEY warren stares GEORGE S. SOWERS, OF SPRINGHILL, KANSAS.

SUPPORTING MEANS FOR HAYSLI1\TGS.

Application filed January 28, 1919.

To all whom it may concern:

1% it known that I, Gnoncn S. Sownns, a citizen of the United States,residing at Spring Hill, in the county of Johnson, State of Kansas, haveinvented a. certain new and useful Improvement in Supporting Means forHay-Slings, of which the following is a full and exact specification.

This invention relates to hay rack improvements, and aims to provide animproved rack construction in which provision is made for carrying andretaining the hay slings during the times when these slings are notinactual use.

For this purpose I have devised a novel form of supporting means for thehay slings in conjunction with the uprights at one end of therack, andso arrange this supporting means for carrying the hay slings andretaining the same on the exterior of the uprights or outside therackuntil the workman is ready to use the slings inthe process of buildingup theload on the rack, whereby the slings are conveniently carried andkept out of the way of the loading operation, and yet may be readily andquickly taken off the supporting means one at a time as fast as they areneeded.

It is also an object to provide a convenient form of folding supportingmeans of the character described, and adapted to be swung out ofoperative or supporting position and so retained without anydisadvantages attending the presence of such supporting means as a partof the rack.

With this general object in view, the invention will now be describedwith reference to the accompanying drawing illustrating a rackconstruction with one form of embodiment of supporting means for the hayslings, after which the novel features therein will be defined and setforth inthe appended claim.

In the drawing- Figure 1 is a side elevation showing a hay rack providedwith a hay sling supporting means embodying the present feature of theimprovement;

Fig. 2 is a front end view of the same;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional detail view showing a portion of one endof the rack, with one of the hay sling supporting members appearing inside elevation and in operative position; a 7

Fig. 4 is a similar view with the hay sling Specification of LettersPatent.

Patented Nov. 29, 1921.. Serial No. 273,668. 7

supporting member shown in foldedor in-.

operative position; and I Fig. 5 is a rear edge view of one of saidsupporting members.

Referring now to the drawing in detail, this illustrates a wagon 6supporting a hay rack comprising the rack bed 8 and the end uprights 10,12, at the front and rear, respectively, of the bed 8. The corneruprights 10 and 12 are shown as provided with retaining pockets 14 forremovably receiving the side bars 16 which, when not in use, are nestedin the pockets 18 onthe rack bed,

all as set forth in my copending application Serial No.239,280-, filedJune 10, 1918, and therefore forming no part of the present invention. Vi i For supporting the hay slings 20, a pair of the uprights, preferablytwo of the intermediate uprights 10 at the front of the rack (since thehay is commonly loaded over the rear end) are provided with foldablesupporting devices, each of which comprises an arm 22 pivotallysupported by means of a pin 24c in the outer end of a bracket plate 26secured to the upright by bolts 28. The bracket plates 26 are fastenedin inclined position, with their outer ends projecting past the outsideedges of the uprights, as

shown in Figs. 3 and 4, and eacharm 22 is provided with a stop lug 30adapted to engage the under edge of the outer projecting end of thecorresponding, bracket plate 26, whenever the arm is swung outward intooperative or supporting position (see Fig. 3). In this way, the arms 22,when swung outward, are presented in upwardly inclined position adaptedto receive and support the hay slings 20 by engagement with the rigidtransverse members 32lof said slings. This construction also permits thearms 22 to be swung upward into approximately vertical position, inwhich position the same may be secured in any convenient manner, as by"means of cords or wires 34, to the top crosspiece 36, as illustrated inFig. 4. The outer ends of the arms 22 may be formed with suitableopenings 38 for receiving said cords or wires 34:.

It is thus apparent that a simple and con venient supporting structureis provided for carrying out the desired object of the inven tion. Hayslings are an efficient means for I hay loadlng and unloading purposes,even more so, in the judgment of many, than the well known hay-forkdevice, because of the danger of personal injury which attends the useof the same, and the damage which is often done to the rack and also tothe barn structure in lifting unduly heavy loads, it.

the necessity of the workman getting on 2111i off the load as often as asling 1S needed to' be inserted in place in the load. For overcomingthis defect, therefore, the present improved device provides a means forcarrying the slings in a position convenient to be used and for keepingthem out of the way until their use is needed in, the loading operation,and likewise providing a place for storing them between loads, or as therack is being unloaded. The use of the improved construction is clearlyillustrated in Fig. l. The front uprights of the rack are selected formounting the supporting devices because the hay is commonly loaded overthe rear end by the usual type of hay-loader 40. As the load is built upthe slings 20 are re moved from the supporting arms 22, one by one, andplaced at intervals through the load. The position of the supportingarms thus keeps the slings entirely out of the way,

' so that neither the arms 22 themselves nor the arms 22 may be foldedup into approximately vertical position as shown in Fig. 4, and securedin this inoperative position as indicated, where they are practicallyout of the way and offerno interference with any other desired use ofthe rack, or, if a tarpaulin covering, for example, is to be let downover the load, this approximately vertical position ofthe arms 22 allowsthis to be done without obstructing such operation in any way. Ifpreferred, however, the arms and bracket plates may be entirely removedfrom the rack, when their use may not be desired for a considerableperiod of time, iy simply removing the bolts 28.

Having described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to secureby Let te:-'s-Patent is: y

Means for carrying hay slings on the outside of hay racks comprising, incombina;

tion, a rack bed having spaced uprights at one end of the bed, andfolding hay sling supporting members carried by said upright members,said supporting members eon'ipris ing bracket plates secured in inclinedposition to said upright members near the upper ends thereofandsupporting arms pivoted to said bracket plates to swing outward fromapproximately vertical into alinement' with said bracket plates forsupporting the hay slings on the exterior side of said upright.members,the upper ends of said arms extendingflush with the upperendsof said upright members whensaid arms are in their approximatelyvertical position, said arms being also providectwith stop lugs adaptedto engage the lower edges of said bracket plates for maintaining saidarms in upwardly inclined position whenin their operative orsling-supporting position.

In witness whereof Ifhereto aiiixmy signature.

enonen sisownns.

